Chapter 5

The force of the slap was so strong that it sent Alyssa crashing to the ground. Her face swelled up rapidly, and even the corner of her mouth began to bleed. A buzzing sound rang in her ears. She could hear or see anything. With a trembling hand, she reached up to touch her face. The moment her fingers brushed against the palm print, tears started streaming down uncontrollably. This was the first time Enzo had ever slapped her. But before she could even react, Enzo had already left through the doorway. Alyssa took a deep breath, hurriedly scrambled up from the ground, and ran after him. She was afraid that Nadine would meet the same tragic fate as in the previous life. Boom! One deafening thunderclap after another rumbled through the sky as the heavy rain poured down relentlessly, drenching the world. Amidst the rain, a tall man held a petite woman tightly in his arms. Nadine struggled desperately, her voice full of despair. "Today is the most important day of my life, yet she did something like this. How can you expect me to stay? Since she still can't let go of you, I don't want to fight with another woman over a man. I might as well return you to her…" But Enzo only tightened his embrace around her. "No, Nadine. I will never love her. You know how long I've been in love with you. Why are you pushing me toward someone else? Do you want to tear my heart out?" As he spoke, he leaned down to kiss her. But in the next second, a blinding pair of headlights sped toward them from a distance. Alyssa had just caught up, only to be met with a scene bathed in blood. She froze on the spot. The red light inside the emergency room flickered on. Doctors rushed forward, surrounding Enzo and attaching various medical devices to his body, preparing for emergency treatment. However, Enzo ignored his own injuries and insisted they save Nadine first. "But Mr. Slater, you're the one who's critically injured!" Enzo's voice was weak and shaky. "Forget about me. Save her first…" Left with no choice, the doctors hurriedly wheeled the unconscious Nadine into the operating room. Not long after, a doctor rushed out in a panic. "The patient is experiencing massive blood loss! Who here has type A blood?" Upon hearing this, Enzo shoved the nurses aside and got off the bed. "I do! Take my blood!" "But Mr. Slater, you—" "Shut up! Hurry!" Bag after bag of bright red blood filled the medical tray beside him. By then, Enzo's face turned deathly pale. Only when Nadine was finally out of danger did he allow himself to collapse onto the operating table and be wheeled into emergency surgery. Alyssa could no longer bear to watch. She turned and walked out. She knew Enzo loved Nadine more than himself. If she had realized this sooner in her past life, would her ending have been less tragic? She had changed the course of events in this lifetime. Even so, Nadine still ended up in a car accident. And the root cause of everything was the love letters and portraits she had drawn. Yet she had no idea how they had spread—she had torn them up with her own hands. It seemed that Nadine was the only person who could have secretly kept her love letters and then made them public. But why would she do such a thing when she already had Enzo? Alyssa couldn't figure it out, nor did she dare to think too deeply about it. For three days, she stayed at home in a daze. Then, Enzo was discharged from the hospital. The first thing he did upon returning was order his bodyguards to throw Alyssa into the cold storage. The moment she was tossed inside, the bone-chilling cold engulfed her entire body. Surrounded by nothing but icy whiteness, Alyssa let out a bitter laugh. She couldn't even remember the last time she had felt this kind of cold. Ever since she had accidentally fallen into a frozen lake as a child, her body had been frail, and she had become extremely sensitive to the cold. That was why the villa was always kept warm, making it feel like spring all year round. Yet now, Enzo was punishing her in this cruel way for not giving up on him and for indirectly causing harm to Nadine. Instinctively, Alyssa curled up, desperately trying to preserve some warmth, but it was futile. All she could do was let out weak, whimpering sounds. Outside the cold storage, a maid who couldn't bear to watch any longer softly pleaded, "Ms. Camden, why don't you make the first move and apologize to Mr. Slater? Given your health, how will you survive this…" Alyssa's eyes suddenly turned red. She had been wrong in her past life, hence why she accepted her fate. But she had done nothing wrong in this life. What was there to apologize for? Besides, Enzo's heart was completely with Nadine now. He wouldn't even want to hear her explanation. The freezing wind howled in from all directions, and soon, a layer of frost formed on Alyssa's eyelashes. She could feel her heartbeat slowing, her thoughts growing more and more blurred… In the end, she slowly closed her eyes and lost consciousness.